Handling of token audience mismatch

ABSTRACT

A method performed by a service communication proxy (SCP). The method comprises determining whether or not there is a mismatch between a first list of Network Function (NF) service producers in an authorization token and a second list of NF service producers in a discovery response. The method further comprises responsive to determining that there is a mismatch between the first list of NF service producers and the second list of NF service producers, transmitting a service response error message to an NF consumer device that transmitted the authorization token, the service response error message indicating a mismatch between the authorization token and the discovery response.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to communications, and moreparticularly to communication methods and related devices and nodessupporting wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

Service based architecture was introduced in Rel-15 of the 3GPPspecifications. One of the security mechanisms introduced in Rel-15 istoken-based authorization, specified in clause 13.4.1 of TS 33.501V15.7.0 (stage 2) and clauses 5.4 and 6.3 of TS 29.510 V15.6.0 (stage3). It is based on the OAuth 2.0 framework as specified in RFC 6749. TheNRF (Network Resource Function, sometimes referred to as NF (NetworkFunction) Repository Function) performs the role of the OAuth 2.0Authorization server in 3GPP. The NF (network function) service consumerperforms the role of the OAuth 2.0 client and the NF service producerperforms the role of the OAuth 2.0 resource server. Before accessing aservice at the NF service producer, the NF service consumer needs toobtain an access token from the NRF. The token request may be for aspecific NF producer instance or for a type of NF producers. The NRF maygrant tokens for access of a whole type of NF producers, a list of NFinstances or a single NF instance. This information on the whole type ofNF producers, the list of NF instances or the single NF instance isstored in the token audience (see e.g. Table 6.3.5.2.4-1 of TS 29.510V15.6.0). After the consumer has obtained the token from the NRF, theconsumer presents the token to the producer in the service request, andthe producer checks whether the token is valid before granting access tothe service.

A procedure that may need to be performed before service access isservice discovery, as described in clause 4.17.4 of TS 23.502 V15.8.0(stage 2), and clauses 5.3 and 6.2 of TS 29.510 V15.6.0 (stage 3).Service discovery is used to discover producers and services offered byproducers in the network. The consumer sends a discovery request to theNRF, and the NRF responds with a set of producer instances. The consumermay send the token request before the discovery or afterwards. If theconsumer has already discovered the producers before sending the tokenrequest, the consumer may use the information of available producerswhen sending the token request.

In Rel-16, in addition to the direct communication scenarios of Rel-15,indirect communication scenarios were introduced. They are described asScenarios C and D in Annex E of TS 23.501 V16.3.0. In Scenario D(indirect communication with delegated discovery), a proxy called SCP(Service Communication Proxy) performs discovery on behalf of theconsumer. This is described in clauses 4.17.9 and 4.17.10 of TS 23.502V16.3.0.

Token-based authorization for indirect communication with delegateddiscovery is not specified yet, but one possible solution is describedin clause 6.23 of TR 33.855 V1.8.0. In this possible solution, theconsumer requests a token from the NRF before sending the servicerequest to the SCP, with the token included in the service request. (TheSCP is called SeCoP or SECOP in SA3 documents, i.e. TR 33.855 V1.8.0 andTS 33.501 V16.1.0.) The SCP may either have discovered the availableproducers earlier or will have to discover them now.

SUMMARY

The SCP may have the following problem: The audience of the tokenreceived from the consumer contains a list of allowed producers (or asingle allowed producer) and the discovery result received from the NRFcontains a list of discovered producers. These lists may not be thesame, indeed the lists may even have empty intersection. In other words,there is no discovered producer in the list of allowed producers in thetoken. This can happen e.g. if the token is older than the discoveryresult. In this situation, the SCP may not be able to fulfil the servicerequest of the consumer, because the SCP may not have a token for any ofthe discovered producers. The SCP itself may not be allowed to request anew token itself on behalf of the consumer.

According to some embodiments of inventive concepts, a method isprovided that is performed by a service communication proxy, SCP. Themethod includes determining whether or not there is a mismatch between afirst list of Network Function, NF, service producers in anauthorization token and a second list of NF service producers in adiscovery response. The method further includes responsive todetermining that there is a mismatch between the first list of NFservice producers and the second list of NF service producers,transmitting (509) a service response error message to an NF consumerdevice that transmitted the authorization token, the service responseerror message indicating a mismatch between the authorization token andthe discovery response.

In some embodiments, wherein determining whether or not there is amismatch between the first list of NF service producers and the secondlist of NF service producers comprises determining whether or not atleast one NF producer listed in the first list of NF service producersis listed in the second list of NF service producers. In someembodiments, the method further comprises responsive to determining thatthere is not at least one NF producer listed in the first list of NFservice producers and in the second list of NF service producers,determining that there is a mismatch between the first list of NFservice producers and the second list of NF service producers. In someother embodiments, the method further comprises responsive todetermining that there is at least one NF service producer listed in thefirst list of NF service producers and listed in the second list of NFservice producers, determining that there is not a mismatch between theauthorization token and the discovery response.

A potential advantage that may be obtained using some of the inventiveconcepts described herein is that the information in the error messageassists the consumer in requesting an appropriate token from the NRF.This allows the consumer and SCP to solve the mismatch of token audiencewith discovery result.

According to other embodiments of inventive concepts, a servicecommunication proxy (SCP) adapted to perform operations is provided. TheSCP is adapted to perform operations including determining whether ornot there is a mismatch between a first list of Network Function, NF,service producers in an authorization token and a second list of NFservice producers in a discovery response. The SCP is adapted to performfurther operations including responsive to determining that there is amismatch between the first list of NF service producers and the secondlist of NF service producers, transmitting a service response errormessage to an NF consumer device that transmitted the authorizationtoken, the service response error message indicating a mismatch betweenthe authorization token and the discovery response.

According to other embodiments of inventive concepts, a servicecommunication proxy (SCP) is provided. The SCP comprises processingcircuitry and memory coupled with the processing circuitry. The memoryincludes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitrycauses the service communication proxy to perform operation thatdetermining whether or not there is a mismatch between a first list ofNetwork Function, NF, service producers in an authorization token and asecond list of NF service producers in a discovery response. The memorymay further includes instructions that when executed by the processingcircuitry causes the service communication proxy to perform operationthat responsive to determining that there is a mismatch between thefirst list of NF service producers and the second list of NF serviceproducers, transmitting a service response error message to an NFconsumer device that transmitted the authorization token, the serviceresponse error message indicating a mismatch between the authorizationtoken and the discovery response.

In some embodiments, wherein determining whether or not there is amismatch between the first list of NF service producers and the secondlist of NF service producers comprises determining whether or not atleast one NF producer listed in the first list of NF service producersis listed in the second list of NF service producers. In someembodiments, the method further comprises responsive to determining thatthere is not at least one NF producer listed in the first list of NFservice producers and in the second list of NF service producers,determining that there is a mismatch between the first list of NFservice producers and the second list of NF service producers. In someother embodiments, the method further comprises responsive todetermining that there is at least one NF service producer listed in thefirst list of NF service producers and listed in the second list of NFservice producers, determining that there is not a mismatch between theauthorization token and the discovery response.

According to other embodiments of inventive concepts, a computer programis provided. The computer program comprises program code to be executedby processing circuitry of a service communication proxy (SCP), wherebyexecution of the program code causes the service communication proxy toperform operations that determining whether or not there is a mismatchbetween a first list of Network Function, NF, service producers in anauthorization token and a second list of NF service producers in adiscovery response. The execution of the program code causes the servicecommunication proxy to further perform operations that responsive todetermining that there is a mismatch between the first list of NFservice producers and the second list of NF service producers,transmitting (509) a service response error message to an NF consumerdevice that transmitted the authorization token, the service responseerror message indicating a mismatch between the authorization token andthe discovery response.

According to other embodiments of inventive concepts, a computer programproduct is provided. The computer product comprised a non-transitorystorage medium including program code to be executed by processingcircuitry of a service communication proxy (SCP), whereby execution ofthe program code causes the service communication proxy (102) to performoperations that determining whether or not there is a mismatch between afirst list of Network Function, NF, service producers in anauthorization token and a second list of NF service producers in adiscovery response. The execution of the program code causes the servicecommunication proxy to further perform operations that responsive todetermining that there is a mismatch between the first list of NFservice producers and the second list of NF service producers,transmitting (509) a service response error message to an NF consumerdevice that transmitted the authorization token, the service responseerror message indicating a mismatch between the authorization token andthe discovery response.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments ofinventive concepts. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is signaling diagram illustrating communications between a NFconsumer device, a SCP node, and a NRF node according to someembodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a NF consumer device according tosome embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 3 a block diagram illustrating an SCP node according to someembodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a NRF node according to someembodiments of inventive concepts;

FIGS. 5-8 are flow charts illustrating operations of an SCP according tosome embodiments of inventive concepts;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a wireless network in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a user equipment in accordance with someembodiments

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in accordancewith some embodiments;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a telecommunication network connected viaan intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with someembodiments;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating via a basestation with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communicationsystem including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communicationsystem including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communicationsystem including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments; and

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communicationsystem including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Inventive concepts will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples of embodimentsof inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments areprovided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and willfully convey the scope of present inventive concepts to those skilled inthe art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutuallyexclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to bepresent/used in another embodiment.

The following description presents various embodiments of the disclosedsubject matter. These embodiments are presented as teaching examples andare not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosed subjectmatter. For example, certain details of the described embodiments may bemodified, omitted, or expanded upon without departing from the scope ofthe described subject matter.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a NF consumer device100 (also referred to as a mobile terminal, a mobile communicationterminal, a wired or wireless communication device, a wired or wirelessterminal, mobile device, a wireless communication terminal, userequipment, UE, a user equipment node/terminal/device, etc.) configuredto provide wireless communication according to embodiments of inventiveconcepts. (The NF consumer device 100 may be provided, for example, asdiscussed below with respect to wireless device 4110 of FIG. 9 .) Asshown, NF consumer device 100 may include an antenna 207 (e.g.,corresponding to antenna 4111 of FIG. 9 ), and transceiver circuitry 201(also referred to as a transceiver, e.g., corresponding to interface4114 of FIG. 9 ) including a transmitter and a receiver configured toprovide uplink and downlink radio communications with a SCP(s) (e.g.,corresponding to network node 4160 of FIG. 9 , also referred to as a RANnode) of a radio access network. NF consumer device 100 may also includeprocessing circuitry 203 (also referred to as a processor, e.g.,corresponding to processing circuitry 4120 of FIG. 9 ) coupled to thetransceiver circuitry, and memory circuitry 205 (also referred to asmemory, e.g., corresponding to device readable medium 4130 of FIG. 9 )coupled to the processing circuitry. The memory circuitry 205 mayinclude computer readable program code that when executed by theprocessing circuitry 203 causes the processing circuitry to performoperations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to otherembodiments, processing circuitry 203 may be defined to include memoryso that separate memory circuitry is not required. NF consumer device100 may also include an interface (such as a user interface) coupledwith processing circuitry 203.

As discussed herein, operations of NF consumer device 100 may beperformed by processing circuitry 203 and/or transceiver circuitry 201.For example, processing circuitry 203 may control transceiver circuitry201 to transmit communications through transceiver circuitry 201 over aradio interface to a radio access network node (also referred to as abase station) and/or to receive communications through transceivercircuitry 201 from a RAN node such as over a radio interface. Moreover,modules may be stored in memory circuitry 205, and these modules mayprovide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executedby processing circuitry 203, processing circuitry 203 performsrespective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect toExample Embodiments relating to NF consumer devices).

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a SCP node 102 (alsoreferred to as a network node, base station, eNodeB/eNB, gNodeB/gNB,etc.) that can be part of a Radio Access Network (RAN) configured toprovide cellular communication according to embodiments of inventiveconcepts. (SCP node 102 may be provided, for example, as discussed belowwith respect to network node 4160 of FIG. 9 .) As shown, the SCP node102 may include transceiver circuitry 301 (also referred to as atransceiver, e.g., corresponding to portions of interface 4190 of FIG. 9) including a transmitter and a receiver configured to provide uplinkand downlink radio communications with mobile terminals. The SCP node102 may include network interface circuitry 307 (also referred to as anetwork interface, e.g., corresponding to portions of interface 4190 ofFIG. 9 ) configured to provide communications with other nodes (e.g.,with other SCP nodes) of the RAN and/or core network CN. The SCP node102 may also include processing circuitry 303 (also referred to as aprocessor, e.g., corresponding to processing circuitry 4170) coupled tothe transceiver circuitry, and memory circuitry 305 (also referred to asmemory, e.g., corresponding to device readable medium 4180 of FIG. 9 )coupled to the processing circuitry. The memory circuitry 305 mayinclude computer readable program code that when executed by theprocessing circuitry 303 causes the processing circuitry to performoperations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to otherembodiments, processing circuitry 303 may be defined to include memoryso that a separate memory circuitry is not required.

As discussed herein, operations of the SCP node 102 may be performed byprocessing circuitry 303, network interface 307, and/or transceiver 301.For example, processing circuitry 303 may control transceiver 301 totransmit downlink communications through transceiver 301 over a radiointerface to one or more NF consumer devices and other terminals and/orto receive uplink communications through transceiver 301 from one ormore NF consumer devices over a radio interface. Similarly, processingcircuitry 303 may control network interface 307 to transmitcommunications through network interface 307 to one or more othernetwork nodes and/or to receive communications through network interfacefrom one or more other network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored inmemory 305, and these modules may provide instructions so that wheninstructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 303,processing circuitry 303 performs respective operations (e.g.,operations discussed below with respect to Example Embodiments relatingto SCP nodes).

According to some other embodiments, a SCP node may be implemented as acore network CN node without a transceiver. In such embodiments,transmission to a NF consumer device may be initiated by the networknode so that transmission to the NF consumer device is provided througha network node including a transceiver (e.g., through a base station orRAN node). According to embodiments where the SCP node is a RAN nodeincluding a transceiver, initiating transmission may includetransmitting through the transceiver.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a NRF node 104 of acommunication network configured to provide cellular communicationaccording to embodiments of inventive concepts. As shown, the NRF node104 may include network interface circuitry 407 (also referred to as anetwork interface) configured to provide communications with other nodesof the core network and/or the radio access network RAN. The NRF node104 may also include a processing circuitry 403 (also referred to as aprocessor) coupled to the network interface circuitry, and memorycircuitry 405 (also referred to as memory) coupled to the processingcircuitry. The memory circuitry 405 may include computer readableprogram code that when executed by the processing circuitry 403 causesthe processing circuitry to perform operations according to embodimentsdisclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processing circuitry403 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memory circuitryis not required.

As indicated above, the SCP may have the following problem: The audienceof the token received from the NF consumer device contains a list ofallowed producers (or a single allowed producer) and the discoveryresult received from the NRF node 104 contains a list of discoveredproducers. These lists may not be the same, indeed the lists may evenhave empty intersection. In other words, there is no discovered producerin the list of allowed producers in the token. Thus, the SCP node 102discovers a mismatch between the token and the discovery result. Thiscan happen e.g. if the token is older than the discovery result. In thissituation, the SCP node 102 may not be able to fulfil the servicerequest of the NF consumer device 100, because the SCP node 102 may nothave a token for any of the discovered producers. The SCP node 102itself may not be allowed to request a new token itself on behalf of theNF consumer device 100.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the SCP node 102 sends anerror message back to the NF consumer device 100, asking the consumerassociated with the NF consumer device 100 to request a new token fromthe NRF node 104. The error message contains information that assiststhe consumer in requesting a new token, e.g. the list of the discoveredproducers.

Turning to FIG. 1 , a signaling diagram illustrating signal transmittedto and from the SCP node and the NF consumer device 100 and to and fromthe SCP node 102 and the NRF node 104.

In operation 1, the NF consumer device 100 sends a service request tothe SCP node 102. The service request contains an authorization tokenwhere the audience of the authorization token contains a list of NFservice producers which the user of the NF consumer device 100 has beenauthenticated to use via the authorization token. In operation 2, theSCP node 102 transmits a discovery request to the NRF node 104. Inoperation 3, the NRF node 104 transmits a discovery result to the SCPnode. The discovery response contains a list of NF service producersavailable to use.

In operation 4, the SCP node 102 determines whether or not there is amismatch of between the list of NF servicer producers in the audience ofthe authorization token and the list of NF service producers in thediscovery result. For example, a mismatch may occur when there is no NFservice producer in the list of NF service producers in the audience ofthe authorization token that is in the list of NF service producers inthe discovery response. In other words, none of the NF service producersin list of NF service producers from the discovery response are in thelist of NF service producers in the audience of the authorization token.This may occur when, for example, new NF service producers have beenadded since the authorization token was issued. The NF service producerin the list of NF service producers in the discovery response may be ina different region than the user of the NF consumer device. In thissituation, the NF consumer device may have received an authorizationtoken from a regional NRF that lists NF service producers in the sameregion, but the NF service producers in the list of NF service producersreceived in the discovery result may be in another region. One way thiscan happen is if the discovery result depends on the NF consumer devicebeing used and the NF consumer device being used belongs to anotherregion. The SCP node 102 may also determine there is a mismatch based ona partial mismatch where there are common NF service producers in bothlists but the lists are not identical. In other embodiments of inventiveconcepts, when there are NF service producers in the list of NF serviceproducers in the audience of the authorization token but are not in thelist of NF service producers in the list of NF service providers in thediscovery response, the SCP node 102 may determine that there is nomismatch. For example, when the NF producers listed in the list of NFproducers in the discovery response are also in the list of NF producersin the audience of the authorization token, the SCP node 102 maydetermine that there is no mismatch when there are additional NF serviceproviders listed in the list of NF producers in the audience of theauthorization token.

In operation 5, the SCP node 102 transmits an error message to the NFconsumer device 100, asking the consumer associated with the NF consumerdevice 100 to obtain a new authorization token from the NRF node 104.The error message may also contain assistance information that assiststhe consumer when requesting a new token. For example, the error messagecan include the list of discovered NF service producers obtained inoperation 3. In some embodiments, the assistance information may includeinformation on the common producers where the lists are not identical.The consumer can determine a name change, a spelling error, etc. usingthe information on the common producers.

Operations of the service communication proxy (SCP) 102 (implementedusing the structure of the block diagram of FIG. 3 ) will now bediscussed with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 5 according to someembodiments of inventive concepts. For example, modules may be stored inmemory 305 of FIG. 3 , and these modules may provide instructions sothat when the instructions of a module are executed by respectivewireless device processing circuitry 303, processing circuitry 303performs respective operations of the flow chart.

Turning now to FIG. 5 , in block 501, the processing circuitry 303, vianetwork interface circuitry 307 or transceiver circuitry 301, mayreceive a service request from the NF consumer device 100, wherein theservice request includes an authorization token. The audience of theauthorization token may have a first list of NF service producers whichthe user of the authorization token is authenticated to use.

In block 503, the processing circuitry 303, via network interfacecircuitry 307 or transceiver circuitry 301, may transmit a discoveryrequest to an NF repository function (NRF), such as NRF node 104. Inblock 505, the processing circuitry 303, via network interface circuitry307 or transceiver circuitry 301, may receive a discovery response fromthe NRF. The discovery response may have a second list of NF serviceproducers, wherein the second list of NF service producers is a list ofNF service producers available from the NRF.

In block 507, the processing circuitry 303 may determine whether or notthere is a mismatch between the first list of Network Function, NF,service producers in the authorization token and the second list of NFservice producers in the discovery response.

Turning to FIG. 6 , in some embodiments of inventive concepts, theprocessing circuitry 303 may determine whether or not there is amismatch between the first list of NF service producers and the secondlist of NF service producers by determining in block 601 whether or notat least one NF producer listed in the first list of NF serviceproducers is listed in the second list of NF service producers.Responsive to determining that there is not at least one NF producerlisted in the first list of NF service producers and in the second listof NF service producers, the processing circuitry 303 may determine inblock 603 that there is a mismatch between the first list of NF serviceproducers and the second list of NF service producers. Responsive todetermining that there is at least one NF service producer listed in thefirst list of NF service producers and listed in the second list of NFservice producers, the processing circuitry 303 may determine that thereis not a mismatch between the authorization token and the discoveryresponse.

Turning to FIG. 7 , in other embodiments of inventive concepts, theprocessing circuitry 303 may determine whether or not there is amismatch between the first list of NF service producers and the secondlist of NF service producers by determining in block 701 whether or notthe first list of NF service producers is identical to the second listof NF service producers. Responsive to determining that the first listof NF service producers is identical to the second list of NF serviceproducers, the processing circuitry 303 may determine in block 703 thatthere is not a mismatch between the first list of NF service producersand the second list of NF service producers. Responsive to determiningthat the first list of NF service producers is not identical to thesecond list of NF service producers, the processing circuitry 303 maydetermine in block 705 that there is a mismatch between the first listof NF service producers and the second list of NF service producers.

In some embodiments of inventive concepts, the processing circuitry 303may determine if there is a partial mismatch. Turning to FIG. 8 , inblock 801, the processing circuitry 303 may determine determining (801)whether or not there is a partial match of at least one NF serviceproducer listed in the first list of NF service producers and at leastone NF producer listed in the second list of NF service producers. Insome embodiments; the processing circuitry 303 may determine whether ornot there is a partial match by determining whether or not there is atleast one common NF service producer in the first list of NF serviceproducers and the second list of NF service producers. Responsive todetermining that there is a partial match, the processing circuitry 303may determine, in block 803, that there is a mismatch between the firstlist of NF service producers and the second list of NF serviceproducers, wherein the service response error message transmitted to theNF consumer device indicates there is a partial match, the serviceresponse error message including information about the partial match.

Returning to FIG. 5 , the processing circuitry 303 may, responsive todetermining that there is a mismatch between the first list of NFservice producers and the second list of NF service producers, theprocessing circuitry 303 may, in block 509, transmit a service responseerror message to an NF consumer device that transmitted theauthorization token, the service response error message indicating amismatch between the authorization token and the discovery response.

Various operations from the flow chart of FIG. 5 may be optional withrespect to some embodiments of service communication proxies and relatedmethods. Regarding methods of example embodiment 1 (set forth below),for example, operations of blocks 501, 503, and 505 of FIG. 5 may beoptional.

Example embodiments are discussed below.

1. A method performed by a service communication proxy, SCP, the methodcomprising:

determining (507) whether or not there is a mismatch between a firstlist of Network Function, NF, service producers in an authorizationtoken and a second list of NF service producers in a discovery response;and

responsive to determining that there is a mismatch between the firstlist of NF service producers and the second list of NF serviceproducers, transmitting (509) a service response error message to an NFconsumer device that transmitted the authorization token, the serviceresponse error message indicating a mismatch between the authorizationtoken and the discovery response.

2. The method of Embodiment 1, wherein determining whether or not thereis a mismatch between the first list of NF service producers and thesecond list of NF service producers comprises:

determining (601) whether or not at least one NF producer listed in thefirst list of NF service producers is listed in the second list of NFservice producers; and

responsive to determining that there is not at least one NF producerlisted in the first list of NF service producers and in the second listof NF service producers, determining (603) that there is a mismatchbetween the first list of NF service producers and the second list of NFservice producers.

3. The method of Embodiment 2, further comprising:

responsive to determining that there is at least one NF service producerlisted in the first list of NF service producers and listed in thesecond list of NF service producers, determining (605) that there is nota mismatch between the authorization token and the discovery response.

4. The method of Embodiment 1, wherein determining whether or not thereis a mismatch between the first list of NF service producers and thesecond list of NF service producers comprises:

determining (701) whether or not the first list of NF service producersis identical to the second list of NF service producers;

responsive to determining that the first list of NF service producers isidentical to the second list of NF service producers, determining (703)that there is not a mismatch between the first list of NF serviceproducers and the second list of NF service producers; and

responsive to determining that the first list of NF service producers isnot identical to the second list of NF service producers, determining(705) that there is a mismatch between the first list of NF serviceproducers and the second list of NF service producers.

5. The method of Embodiment 1, wherein determining whether or not thereis a mismatch between the first list of NF service producers and thesecond list of NF service producers comprises:

determining (801) whether or not there is a partial match of at leastone NF service producer listed in the first list of NF service producersand at least one NF producer listed in the second list of NF serviceproducers; and

responsive to determining that there is a partial match, determining(803) that there is a mismatch between the first list of NF serviceproducers and the second list of NF service producers, wherein theservice response error message transmitted to the NF consumer deviceindicates there is a partial match, the service response error messageincluding information about the partial match.

6. The method of Embodiment 5, wherein determining whether or not thereis a partial match comprises determining whether or not there is atleast one common NF service producer in the first list of NF serviceproducers and the second list of NF service producers.7. The method of any of Embodiments 1-6, further comprising:

receiving (501) a service request from the NF consumer device, theservice request comprising the authorization token.

8. The method of any of Embodiments 1-7, further comprising:

transmitting (503) a discovery request to a NF repository function; and

receiving (505) the discovery response from the NF repository function.

9. A service communication proxy (102) comprising:

processing circuitry (303); and

memory (305) coupled with the processing circuitry, wherein the memoryincludes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitrycauses the service communication proxy to perform operations comprising:

determining (507) whether or not there is a mismatch between a firstlist of Network Function, NF, service producers in an authorizationtoken and a second list of NF service producers in a discovery response;and

responsive to determining that there is a mismatch between the firstlist of NF service producers and the second list of NF serviceproducers, transmitting (509) a service response error message to an NFconsumer device that transmitted the authorization token, the serviceresponse error message indicating a mismatch between the authorizationtoken and the discovery response.

10. The service communication proxy (102) according to Embodiment 9wherein the memory includes instructions that when executed by theprocessing circuitry causes the service communication proxy to performoperations according to any of Embodiments 2-8.11. A computer program comprising program code to be executed byprocessing circuitry (303) of a service communication proxy (102),whereby execution of the program code causes the service communicationproxy (102) to perform operations comprising:

determining (507) whether or not there is a mismatch between a firstlist of Network Function, NF, service producers in an authorizationtoken and a second list of NF service producers in a discovery response;and

responsive to determining that there is a mismatch between the firstlist of NF service producers and the second list of NF serviceproducers, transmitting (509) a service response error message to an NFconsumer device that transmitted the authorization token, the serviceresponse error message indicating a mismatch between the authorizationtoken and the discovery response.

12. The computer program according to Claim 11 whereby execution of theprogram code causes the service communication proxy (102) to performoperations any of Embodiments 2-8.13. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storagemedium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry(303) of a service communication proxy (102), whereby execution of theprogram code causes the service communication proxy (102) to performoperations according to any of Embodiments 2-8.14. A service communication proxy (102) adapted to perform operationscomprising:

determining (507) whether or not there is a mismatch between a firstlist of Network Function, NF, service producers in an authorizationtoken and a second list of NF service producers in a discovery response;and

responsive to determining that there is a mismatch between the firstlist of NF service producers and the second list of NF serviceproducers, transmitting (509) a service response error message to an NFconsumer device that transmitted the authorization token, the serviceresponse error message indicating a mismatch between the authorizationtoken and the discovery response.

15. The SCP (102) according to Embodiment 14 wherein the SCP, indetermining whether or not there is a mismatch between the first list ofNF service producers and the second list of NF service producers isadapted to perform operations comprising:

determining (601) whether or not at least one NF producer listed in thefirst list of NF service producers is listed in the second list of NFservice producers; and

responsive to determining that there is not at least one NF producerlisted in the first list of NF service producers and in the second listof NF service producers, determining (603) that the first list of NFservice producers is not identical to the second list of NF serviceproducers.

16. The SCP (102) of Embodiment 15, wherein the SCP (102) is furtheradapted to perform operations comprising:

responsive to determining that there is at least one NF service producerlisted in the first list of NF service producers and listed in thesecond list of NF service producers, determining (605) that there is nota mismatch between the authorization token and the discovery response.

17. The SCP (102) of Embodiment 14, wherein in determining whether ornot there is a mismatch between the first list of NF service producersand the second list of NF service producers, the SCP (102) is adapted toperform operations comprises:

determining (701) whether or not the first list of NF service producersis identical to the second list of NF service producers;

responsive to determining that the first list of NF service producers isidentical to the second list of NF service producers, determining (703)that there is not a mismatch between the first list of NF serviceproducers and the second list of NF service producers; and

responsive to determining that the first list of NF service producers isnot identical to the second list of NF service producers, determining(705) that there is a mismatch between the first list of NF serviceproducers and the second list of NF service producers.

18. The SCP (102) of Embodiment 14, wherein in determining whether ornot there is a mismatch between the first list of NF service producersand the second list of NF service producers, the SCP (102) is adapted toperform operations comprises:

determining (801) whether or not there is a partial match of at leastone NF service producer listed in the first list of NF service producersand at least one NF producer listed in the second list of NF serviceproducers; and

responsive to determining that there is a partial match, determining(803) that there is a mismatch between the first list of NF serviceproducers and the second list of NF service producers, wherein theservice response error message transmitted to the NF consumer deviceindicates there is a partial match, the service response error messageincluding information about the partial match.

19. The SCP (102) of Embodiment 18, wherein in determining whether ornot there is a partial match, the SCP (102) is adapted to performoperations comprises determining whether or not there is at least onecommon NF service producer in the first list of NF service producers andthe second list of NF service producers.20. The SCP (102) of any of Embodiments 14-19, wherein the SCP (102) isfurther adapted to perform operations comprising:

receiving a service request from the NF consumer device, the servicerequest comprising the authorization token.

21. The SCP (102) of any of Embodiments 14-20, wherein the SCP (102) isfurther adapted to perform operations comprising:

transmitting a discovery request to a NF repository function; and

receiving the discovery response from the NF repository function.

Additional explanation is provided below.

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according totheir ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless adifferent meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context inwhich it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus,component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referringto at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means,step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methodsdisclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact orderdisclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following orpreceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step mustfollow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodimentsdisclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, whereverappropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may applyto any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features andadvantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from thefollowing description.

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described morefully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments,however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosedherein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limitedto only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments areprovided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter tothose skilled in the art.

FIG. 9 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with someembodiments.

Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in anyappropriate type of system using any suitable components, theembodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wirelessnetwork, such as the example wireless network illustrated in FIG. 9 .For simplicity, the wireless network of FIG. 9 only depicts network4106, network nodes 4160 and 4160 b, and WDs 4110, 4110 b, and 4110 c(also referred to as mobile terminals). In practice, a wireless networkmay further include any additional elements suitable to supportcommunication between wireless devices or between a wireless device andanother communication device, such as a landline telephone, a serviceprovider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustratedcomponents, network node 4160 and wireless device (WD) 4110 are depictedwith additional detail. The wireless network may provide communicationand other types of services to one or more wireless devices tofacilitate the wireless devices' access to and/or use of the servicesprovided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type ofcommunication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio networkor other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wirelessnetwork may be configured to operate according to specific standards orother types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particularembodiments of the wireless network may implement communicationstandards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution(LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards;

wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard,such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax),Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network 4106 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks,IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet datanetworks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local areanetworks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks,wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks toenable communication between devices.

Network node 4160 and WD 4110 comprise various components described inmore detail below. These components work together in order to providenetwork node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providingwireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments,the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wirelessnetworks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices,relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that mayfacilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signalswhether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured,arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with awireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in thewireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to thewireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration)in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are notlimited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), basestations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs(eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based onthe amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, theirtransmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto basestations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro basestations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor nodecontrolling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (orall) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralizeddigital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to asRemote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not beintegrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of adistributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in adistributed antenna system (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodesinclude multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, networkcontrollers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base stationcontrollers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmissionpoints, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities(MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SONnodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As anotherexample, a network node may be a virtual network node as described inmore detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may representany suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged,and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with accessto the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless devicethat has accessed the wireless network.

In FIG. 9 , network node 4160 includes processing circuitry 4170, devicereadable medium 4180, interface 4190, auxiliary equipment 4184, powersource 4186, power circuitry 4187, and antenna 4162. Although networknode 4160 illustrated in the example wireless network of FIG. 9 mayrepresent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardwarecomponents, other embodiments may comprise network nodes with differentcombinations of components. It is to be understood that a network nodecomprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed toperform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein.Moreover, while the components of network node 4160 are depicted assingle boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multipleboxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multiple differentphysical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g.,device readable medium 4180 may comprise multiple separate hard drivesas well as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node 4160 may be composed of multiple physicallyseparate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or aBTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their ownrespective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 4160comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components),one or more of the separate components may be shared among severalnetwork nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB's.In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in someinstances be considered a single separate network node. In someembodiments, network node 4160 may be configured to support multipleradio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some componentsmay be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 4180 for thedifferent RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the sameantenna 4162 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 4160 may alsoinclude multiple sets of the various illustrated components fordifferent wireless technologies integrated into network node 4160, suchas, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wirelesstechnologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into thesame or different chip or set of chips and other components withinnetwork node 4160.

Processing circuitry 4170 is configured to perform any determining,calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations)described herein as being provided by a network node. These operationsperformed by processing circuitry 4170 may include processinginformation obtained by processing circuitry 4170 by, for example,converting the obtained information into other information, comparingthe obtained information or converted information to information storedin the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based onthe obtained information or converted information, and as a result ofsaid processing making a determination.

Processing circuitry 4170 may comprise a combination of one or more of amicroprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit,digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, fieldprogrammable gate array, or any other suitable computing device,resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logicoperable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other networknode 4160 components, such as device readable medium 4180, network node4160 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 4170 may executeinstructions stored in device readable medium 4180 or in memory withinprocessing circuitry 4170. Such functionality may include providing anyof the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussedherein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4170 may include asystem on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4170 may include one or moreof radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 4172 and basebandprocessing circuitry 4174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF)transceiver circuitry 4172 and baseband processing circuitry 4174 may beon separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radiounits and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RFtransceiver circuitry 4172 and baseband processing circuitry 4174 may beon the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or othersuch network device may be performed by processing circuitry 4170executing instructions stored on device readable medium 4180 or memorywithin processing circuitry 4170. In alternative embodiments, some orall of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 4170without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete devicereadable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of thoseembodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readablestorage medium or not, processing circuitry 4170 can be configured toperform the described functionality. The benefits provided by suchfunctionality are not limited to processing circuitry 4170 alone or toother components of network node 4160, but are enjoyed by network node4160 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium 4180 may comprise any form of volatile ornon-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation,persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory,magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-onlymemory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removablestorage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or aDigital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile,non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devicesthat store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used byprocessing circuitry 4170. Device readable medium 4180 may store anysuitable instructions, data or information, including a computerprogram, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules,code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executedby processing circuitry 4170 and, utilized by network node 4160. Devicereadable medium 4180 may be used to store any calculations made byprocessing circuitry 4170 and/or any data received via interface 4190.In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4170 and device readablemedium 4180 may be considered to be integrated.

Interface 4190 is used in the wired or wireless communication ofsignalling and/or data between network node 4160, network 4106, and/orWDs 4110. As illustrated, interface 4190 comprises port(s)/terminal(s)4194 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 4106 overa wired connection. Interface 4190 also includes radio front endcircuitry 4192 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a partof, antenna 4162. Radio front end circuitry 4192 comprises filters 4198and amplifiers 4196. Radio front end circuitry 4192 may be connected toantenna 4162 and processing circuitry 4170. Radio front end circuitrymay be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 4162and processing circuitry 4170. Radio front end circuitry 4192 mayreceive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes orWDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 4192 mayconvert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriatechannel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 4198and/or amplifiers 4196. The radio signal may then be transmitted viaantenna 4162. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 4162 may collectradio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio frontend circuitry 4192. The digital data may be passed to processingcircuitry 4170. In other embodiments, the interface may comprisedifferent components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 4160 may not includeseparate radio front end circuitry 4192, instead, processing circuitry4170 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected toantenna 4162 without separate radio front end circuitry 4192. Similarly,in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 4172 may beconsidered a part of interface 4190. In still other embodiments,interface 4190 may include one or more ports or terminals 4194, radiofront end circuitry 4192, and RF transceiver circuitry 4172, as part ofa radio unit (not shown), and interface 4190 may communicate withbaseband processing circuitry 4174, which is part of a digital unit (notshown).

Antenna 4162 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays,configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 4162 may becoupled to radio front end circuitry 4190 and may be any type of antennacapable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. Insome embodiments, antenna 4162 may comprise one or moreomni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receiveradio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. Anomni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signalsin any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radiosignals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna maybe a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in arelatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than oneantenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 4162may be separate from network node 4160 and may be connectable to networknode 4160 through an interface or port.

Antenna 4162, interface 4190, and/or processing circuitry 4170 may beconfigured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtainingoperations described herein as being performed by a network node. Anyinformation, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device,another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly,antenna 4162, interface 4190, and/or processing circuitry 4170 may beconfigured to perform any transmitting operations described herein asbeing performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signalsmay be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or anyother network equipment.

Power circuitry 4187 may comprise, or be coupled to, power managementcircuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node4160 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Powercircuitry 4187 may receive power from power source 4186. Power source4186 and/or power circuitry 4187 may be configured to provide power tothe various components of network node 4160 in a form suitable for therespective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed foreach respective component). Power source 4186 may either be included in,or external to, power circuitry 4187 and/or network node 4160. Forexample, network node 4160 may be connectable to an external powersource (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interfacesuch as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source suppliespower to power circuitry 4187. As a further example, power source 4186may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery packwhich is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 4187. Thebattery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also beused.

Alternative embodiments of network node 4160 may include additionalcomponents beyond those shown in FIG. 9 that may be responsible forproviding certain aspects of the network node's functionality, includingany of the functionality described herein and/or any functionalitynecessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example,network node 4160 may include user interface equipment to allow input ofinformation into network node 4160 and to allow output of informationfrom network node 4160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic,maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node4160.

As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable,configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly withnetwork nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, theterm WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE).Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receivingwireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infraredwaves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying informationthrough air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmitand/or receive information without direct human interaction. Forinstance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on apredetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event,or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include,but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, avoice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktopcomputer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, agaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance,a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, atablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mountedequipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment(CPE). a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A WD may supportdevice-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPPstandard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V),vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may inthis case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet anotherspecific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD mayrepresent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/ormeasurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/ormeasurements to another WD and/or a network node. The WD may in thiscase be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP contextbe referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD maybe a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT)standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors,metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home orpersonal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personalwearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, aWD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable ofmonitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functionsassociated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent theendpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may bereferred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described abovemay be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobiledevice or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device 4110 includes antenna 4111, interface4114, processing circuitry 4120, device readable medium 4130, userinterface equipment 4132, auxiliary equipment 4134, power source 4136and power circuitry 4137. WD 4110 may include multiple sets of one ormore of the illustrated components for different wireless technologiessupported by WD 4110, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi,WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. Thesewireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chipsor set of chips as other components within WD 4110.

Antenna 4111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays,configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected tointerface 4114. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 4111 may beseparate from WD 4110 and be connectable to WD 4110 through an interfaceor port. Antenna 4111, interface 4114, and/or processing circuitry 4120may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operationsdescribed herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, dataand/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another WD. Insome embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 4111 may beconsidered an interface.

As illustrated, interface 4114 comprises radio front end circuitry 4112and antenna 4111. Radio front end circuitry 4112 comprise one or morefilters 4118 and amplifiers 4116. Radio front end circuitry 4114 isconnected to antenna 4111 and processing circuitry 4120, and isconfigured to condition signals communicated between antenna 4111 andprocessing circuitry 4120. Radio front end circuitry 4112 may be coupledto or a part of antenna 4111. In some embodiments, WD 4110 may notinclude separate radio front end circuitry 4112;

rather, processing circuitry 4120 may comprise radio front end circuitryand may be connected to antenna 4111. Similarly, in some embodiments,some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may be considered a part ofinterface 4114. Radio front end circuitry 4112 may receive digital datathat is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wirelessconnection. Radio front end circuitry 4112 may convert the digital datainto a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidthparameters using a combination of filters 4118 and/or amplifiers 4116.The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 4111. Similarly,when receiving data, antenna 4111 may collect radio signals which arethen converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 4112. Thedigital data may be passed to processing circuitry 4120. In otherembodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/ordifferent combinations of components.

Processing circuitry 4120 may comprise a combination of one or more of amicroprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit,digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, fieldprogrammable gate array, or any other suitable computing device,resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logicoperable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD 4110components, such as device readable medium 4130, WD 4110 functionality.Such functionality may include providing any of the various wirelessfeatures or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry4120 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 4130 orin memory within processing circuitry 4120 to provide the functionalitydisclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry 4120 includes one or more of RFtransceiver circuitry 4122, baseband processing circuitry 4124, andapplication processing circuitry 4126. In other embodiments, theprocessing circuitry may comprise different components and/or differentcombinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry4120 of WD 4110 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceivercircuitry 4122, baseband processing circuitry 4124, and applicationprocessing circuitry 4126 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. Inalternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry4124 and application processing circuitry 4126 may be combined into onechip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may be on aseparate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part orall of RF transceiver circuitry 4122 and baseband processing circuitry4124 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processingcircuitry 4126 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet otheralternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 4122,baseband processing circuitry 4124, and application processing circuitry4126 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In someembodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may be a part of interface4114. RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may condition RF signals forprocessing circuitry 4120.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processingcircuitry 4120 executing instructions stored on device readable medium4130, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storagemedium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality maybe provided by processing circuitry 4120 without executing instructionsstored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such asin a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whetherexecuting instructions stored on a device readable storage medium ornot, processing circuitry 4120 can be configured to perform thedescribed functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality arenot limited to processing circuitry 4120 alone or to other components ofWD 4110, but are enjoyed by WD 4110 as a whole, and/or by end users andthe wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry 4120 may be configured to perform any determining,calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations)described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, asperformed by processing circuitry 4120, may include processinginformation obtained by processing circuitry 4120 by, for example,converting the obtained information into other information, comparingthe obtained information or converted information to information storedby WD 4110, and/or performing one or more operations based on theobtained information or converted information, and as a result of saidprocessing making a determination.

Device readable medium 4130 may be operable to store a computer program,software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code,tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed byprocessing circuitry 4120. Device readable medium 4130 may includecomputer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory(ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media(e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or anyother volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/orcomputer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/orinstructions that may be used by processing circuitry 4120. In someembodiments, processing circuitry 4120 and device readable medium 4130may be considered to be integrated.

User interface equipment 4132 may provide components that allow for ahuman user to interact with WD 4110. Such interaction may be of manyforms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment4132 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the userto provide input to WD 4110. The type of interaction may vary dependingon the type of user interface equipment 4132 installed in WD 4110. Forexample, if WD 4110 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touchscreen; if WD 4110 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through ascreen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or aspeaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected).User interface equipment 4132 may include input interfaces, devices andcircuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interfaceequipment 4132 is configured to allow input of information into WD 4110,and is connected to processing circuitry 4120 to allow processingcircuitry 4120 to process the input information. User interfaceequipment 4132 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity orother sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USBport, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment 4132 is alsoconfigured to allow output of information from WD 4110, and to allowprocessing circuitry 4120 to output information from WD 4110. Userinterface equipment 4132 may include, for example, a speaker, a display,vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other outputcircuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, andcircuits, of user interface equipment 4132, WD 4110 may communicate withend users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit fromthe functionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment 4134 is operable to provide more specificfunctionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This maycomprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for variouspurposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wiredcommunications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliaryequipment 4134 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source 4136 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a batteryor battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external powersource (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or powercells, may also be used. WD 4110 may further comprise power circuitry4137 for delivering power from power source 4136 to the various parts ofWD 4110 which need power from power source 4136 to carry out anyfunctionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 4137 may incertain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry4137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power froman external power source; in which case WD 4110 may be connectable tothe external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via inputcircuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Powercircuitry 4137 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliverpower from an external power source to power source 4136. This may be,for example, for the charging of power source 4136. Power circuitry 4137may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to thepower from power source 4136 to make the power suitable for therespective components of WD 4110 to which power is supplied.

FIG. 10 illustrates a user Equipment in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with variousaspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may notnecessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/oroperates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device thatis intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which maynot, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific humanuser (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE mayrepresent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, anend user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit ofa user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 42200 may be any UE identified bythe 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, amachine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.UE 4200, as illustrated in FIG. 10 , is one example of a WD configuredfor communication in accordance with one or more communication standardspromulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, theterm WD and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIG.10 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to aWD, and vice-versa.

In FIG. 10 , UE 4200 includes processing circuitry 4201 that isoperatively coupled to input/output interface 4205, radio frequency (RF)interface 4209, network connection interface 4211, memory 4215 includingrandom access memory (RAM) 4217, read-only memory (ROM) 4219, andstorage medium 4221 or the like, communication subsystem 4231, powersource 4233, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof.Storage medium 4221 includes operating system 4223, application program4225, and data 4227. In other embodiments, storage medium 4221 mayinclude other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize allof the components shown in FIG. 10 , or only a subset of the components.The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE toanother UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of acomponent, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers,transmitters, receivers, etc.

In FIG. 10 , processing circuitry 4201 may be configured to processcomputer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 4201 may beconfigured to implement any sequential state machine operative toexecute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computerprograms in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented statemachines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logictogether with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program,general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital SignalProcessor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combinationof the above. For example, the processing circuitry 4201 may include twocentral processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a formsuitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 4205 may beconfigured to provide a communication interface to an input device,output device, or input and output device. UE 4200 may be configured touse an output device via input/output interface 4205. An output devicemay use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example,a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from UE 4200. Theoutput device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, amonitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another outputdevice, or any combination thereof. UE 4200 may be configured to use aninput device via input/output interface 4205 to allow a user to captureinformation into UE 4200. The input device may include a touch-sensitiveor presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, adigital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, amouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, asmartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include acapacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. Asensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tiltsensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximitysensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example,the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digitalcamera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

In FIG. 10 , RF interface 4209 may be configured to provide acommunication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, areceiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 4211 may beconfigured to provide a communication interface to network 4243 a.Network 4243 a may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as alocal-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network,a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like networkor any combination thereof. For example, network 4243 a may comprise aWi-Fi network. Network connection interface 4211 may be configured toinclude a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate withone or more other devices over a communication network according to oneor more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM,or the like. Network connection interface 4211 may implement receiverand transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication networklinks (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter andreceiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware,or alternatively may be implemented separately.

RAM 4217 may be configured to interface via bus 4202 to processingcircuitry 4201 to provide storage or caching of data or computerinstructions during the execution of software programs such as theoperating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 4219 maybe configured to provide computer instructions or data to processingcircuitry 4201. For example, ROM 4219 may be configured to storeinvariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions suchas basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokesfrom a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium4221 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmableread-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magneticdisks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, orflash drives. In one example, storage medium 4221 may be configured toinclude operating system 4223, application program 4225 such as a webbrowser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application,and data file 4227. Storage medium 4221 may store, for use by UE 4200,any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations ofoperating systems.

Storage medium 4221 may be configured to include a number of physicaldrive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppydisk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive,thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc(HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray opticaldisc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive,external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamicrandom access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcardmemory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity(SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storagemedium 4221 may allow UE 4200 to access computer-executableinstructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory ornon-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. Anarticle of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system maybe tangibly embodied in storage medium 4221, which may comprise a devicereadable medium.

In FIG. 10 , processing circuitry 4201 may be configured to communicatewith network 4243 b using communication subsystem 4231. Network 4243 aand network 4243 b may be the same network or networks or differentnetwork or networks. Communication subsystem 4231 may be configured toinclude one or more transceivers used to communicate with network 4243b. For example, communication subsystem 4231 may be configured toinclude one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or moreremote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communicationsuch as another WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN)according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.11,CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver mayinclude transmitter 4233 and/or receiver 4235 to implement transmitteror receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links(e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 4233and receiver 4235 of each transceiver may share circuit components,software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions ofcommunication subsystem 4231 may include data communication, voicecommunication, multimedia communication, short-range communications suchas Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communicationsuch as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine alocation, another like communication function, or any combinationthereof. For example, communication subsystem 4231 may include cellularcommunication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPScommunication. Network 4243 b may encompass wired and/or wirelessnetworks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN),a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network,another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network4243 b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-fieldnetwork. Power source 4213 may be configured to provide alternatingcurrent (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 4200.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may beimplemented in one of the components of UE 4200 or partitioned acrossmultiple components of UE 4200. Further, the features, benefits, and/orfunctions described herein may be implemented in any combination ofhardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem4231 may be configured to include any of the components describedherein. Further, processing circuitry 4201 may be configured tocommunicate with any of such components over bus 4202. In anotherexample, any of such components may be represented by programinstructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry4201 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In anotherexample, the functionality of any of such components may be partitionedbetween processing circuitry 4201 and communication subsystem 4231. Inanother example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any ofsuch components may be implemented in software or firmware and thecomputationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

FIG. 11 illustrates a virtualization environment in accordance with someembodiments.

FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualizationenvironment 4300 in which functions implemented by some embodiments maybe virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creatingvirtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may includevirtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networkingresources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node(e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) orto a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type ofcommunication device) or components thereof and relates to animplementation in which at least a portion of the functionality isimplemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or moreapplications, components, functions, virtual machines or containersexecuting on one or more physical processing nodes in one or morenetworks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein maybe implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtualmachines implemented in one or more virtual environments 4300 hosted byone or more of hardware nodes 4330. Further, in embodiments in which thevirtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radioconnectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may beentirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 4320 (whichmay alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances,network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.)operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefitsof some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 4320 are runin virtualization environment 4300 which provides hardware 4330comprising processing circuitry 4360 and memory 4390. Memory 4390contains instructions 4395 executable by processing circuitry 4360whereby application 4320 is operative to provide one or more of thefeatures, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment 4300, comprises general-purpose orspecial-purpose network hardware devices 4330 comprising a set of one ormore processors or processing circuitry 4360, which may be commercialoff-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application SpecificIntegrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitryincluding digital or analog hardware components or special purposeprocessors. Each hardware device may comprise memory 4390-1 which may benon-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 4395 orsoftware executed by processing circuitry 4360. Each hardware device maycomprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 4370, alsoknown as network interface cards, which include physical networkinterface 4380. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory,persistent, machine-readable storage media 4390-2 having stored thereinsoftware 4395 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry4360. Software 4395 may include any type of software including softwarefor instantiating one or more virtualization layers 4350 (also referredto as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 4340 as well assoftware allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefitsdescribed in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines 4340 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory,virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by acorresponding virtualization layer 4350 or hypervisor. Differentembodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 4320 may be implementedon one or more of virtual machines 4340, and the implementations may bemade in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry 4360 executes software 4395 toinstantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 4350, which maysometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM).Virtualization layer 4350 may present a virtual operating platform thatappears like networking hardware to virtual machine 4340.

As shown in FIG. 11 , hardware 4330 may be a standalone network nodewith generic or specific components. Hardware 4330 may comprise antenna43225 and may implement some functions via virtualization.Alternatively, hardware 4330 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware(e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE))where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via managementand orchestration (MANO) 43100, which, among others, oversees lifecyclemanagement of applications 4320.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to asnetwork function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidatemany network equipment types onto industry standard high volume serverhardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be locatedin data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, virtual machine 4340 may be a softwareimplementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they wereexecuting on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtualmachines 4340, and that part of hardware 4330 that executes that virtualmachine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/orhardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtualmachines 4340, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) isresponsible for handling specific network functions that run in one ormore virtual machines 4340 on top of hardware networking infrastructure4330 and corresponds to application 4320 in FIG. 11 .

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 43200 that each include oneor more transmitters 43220 and one or more receivers 43210 may becoupled to one or more antennas 43225. Radio units 43200 may communicatedirectly with hardware nodes 4330 via one or more appropriate networkinterfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components toprovide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio accessnode or a base station.

In some embodiments, some signalling can be effected with the use ofcontrol system 43230 which may alternatively be used for communicationbetween the hardware nodes 4330 and radio units 43200.

FIG. 12 illustrates a telecommunication network connected via anintermediate network to a host computer in accordance with someembodiments.

With reference to FIG. 12 , in accordance with an embodiment, acommunication system includes telecommunication network 4410, such as a3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network 4411, such asa radio access network, and core network 4414. Access network 4411comprises a plurality of base stations 4412 a, 4412 b, 4412 c, such asNBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defininga corresponding coverage area 4413 a, 4413 b, 4413 c. Each base station4412 a, 4412 b, 4412 c is connectable to core network 4414 over a wiredor wireless connection 4415. A first UE 4491 located in coverage area4413 c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, thecorresponding base station 4412 c. A second UE 4492 in coverage area4413 a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 4412a. While a plurality of UEs 4491, 4492 are illustrated in this example,the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where asole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to thecorresponding base station 4412.

Telecommunication network 4410 is itself connected to host computer4430, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of astandalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server oras processing resources in a server farm. Host computer 4430 may beunder the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operatedby the service provider or on behalf of the service provider.Connections 4421 and 4422 between telecommunication network 4410 andhost computer 4430 may extend directly from core network 4414 to hostcomputer 4430 or may go via an optional intermediate network 4420.Intermediate network 4420 may be one of, or a combination of more thanone of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 4420,if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular,intermediate network 4420 may comprise two or more sub-networks (notshown).

The communication system of FIG. 12 as a whole enables connectivitybetween the connected UEs 4491, 4492 and host computer 4430. Theconnectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 4450.Host computer 4430 and the connected UEs 4491, 4492 are configured tocommunicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 4450, using accessnetwork 4411, core network 4414, any intermediate network 4420 andpossible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTTconnection 4450 may be transparent in the sense that the participatingcommunication devices through which OTT connection 4450 passes areunaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example,base station 4412 may not or need not be informed about the past routingof an incoming downlink communication with data originating from hostcomputer 4430 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE4491. Similarly, base station 4412 need not be aware of the futurerouting of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 4491towards the host computer 4430.

FIG. 13 illustrates a host computer communicating via a base stationwith a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordancewith some embodiments.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE,base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphswill now be described with reference to FIG. 13 . In communicationsystem 4500, host computer 4510 comprises hardware 4515 includingcommunication interface 4516 configured to set up and maintain a wiredor wireless connection with an interface of a different communicationdevice of communication system 4500. Host computer 4510 furthercomprises processing circuitry 4518, which may have storage and/orprocessing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 4518 maycomprise one or more programmable processors, application-specificintegrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations ofthese (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer 4510further comprises software 4511, which is stored in or accessible byhost computer 4510 and executable by processing circuitry 4518. Software4511 includes host application 4512. Host application 4512 may beoperable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 4530connecting via OTT connection 4550 terminating at UE 4530 and hostcomputer 4510. In providing the service to the remote user, hostapplication 4512 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTTconnection 4550.

Communication system 4500 further includes base station 4520 provided ina telecommunication system and comprising hardware 4525 enabling it tocommunicate with host computer 4510 and with UE 4530. Hardware 4525 mayinclude communication interface 4526 for setting up and maintaining awired or wireless connection with an interface of a differentcommunication device of communication system 4500, as well as radiointerface 4527 for setting up and maintaining at least wirelessconnection 4570 with UE 4530 located in a coverage area (not shown inFIG. 13 ) served by base station 4520. Communication interface 4526 maybe configured to facilitate connection 4560 to host computer 4510.Connection 4560 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (notshown in FIG. 13 ) of the telecommunication system and/or through one ormore intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In theembodiment shown, hardware 4525 of base station 4520 further includesprocessing circuitry 4528, which may comprise one or more programmableprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmablegate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to executeinstructions. Base station 4520 further has software 4521 storedinternally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system 4500 further includes UE 4530 already referred to.Its hardware 4535 may include radio interface 4537 configured to set upand maintain wireless connection 4570 with a base station serving acoverage area in which UE 4530 is currently located. Hardware 4535 of UE4530 further includes processing circuitry 4538, which may comprise oneor more programmable processors, application-specific integratedcircuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (notshown) adapted to execute instructions. UE 4530 further comprisessoftware 4531, which is stored in or accessible by UE 4530 andexecutable by processing circuitry 4538. Software 4531 includes clientapplication 4532. Client application 4532 may be operable to provide aservice to a human or non-human user via UE 4530, with the support ofhost computer 4510. In host computer 4510, an executing host application4512 may communicate with the executing client application 4532 via OTTconnection 4550 terminating at UE 4530 and host computer 4510. Inproviding the service to the user, client application 4532 may receiverequest data from host application 4512 and provide user data inresponse to the request data. OTT connection 4550 may transfer both therequest data and the user data. Client application 4532 may interactwith the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that host computer 4510, base station 4520 and UE 4530illustrated in FIG. 13 may be similar or identical to host computer4430, one of base stations 4412 a, 4412 b, 4412 c and one of UEs 4491,4492 of FIG. 12 , respectively. This is to say, the inner workings ofthese entities may be as shown in FIG. 13 and independently, thesurrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 12 .

In FIG. 13 , OTT connection 4550 has been drawn abstractly to illustratethe communication between host computer 4510 and UE 4530 via basestation 4520, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices andthe precise routing of messages via these devices. Networkinfrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured tohide from UE 4530 or from the service provider operating host computer4510, or both. While OTT connection 4550 is active, the networkinfrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamicallychanges the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing considerationor reconfiguration of the network).

Wireless connection 4570 between UE 4530 and base station 4520 is inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments may improve theperformance of OTT services provided to UE 4530 using OTT connection4550, in which wireless connection 4570 forms the last segment. Moreprecisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the randomaccess speed and/or reduce random access failure rates and therebyprovide benefits such as faster and/or more reliable random access.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoringdata rate, latency and other factors on which the one or moreembodiments improve. There may further be an optional networkfunctionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 4550 between hostcomputer 4510 and UE 4530, in response to variations in the measurementresults. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality forreconfiguring OTT connection 4550 may be implemented in software 4511and hardware 4515 of host computer 4510 or in software 4531 and hardware4535 of UE 4530, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may bedeployed in or in association with communication devices through whichOTT connection 4550 passes; the sensors may participate in themeasurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantitiesexemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities fromwhich software 4511, 4531 may compute or estimate the monitoredquantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 4550 may include messageformat, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; thereconfiguring need not affect base station 4520, and it may be unknownor imperceptible to base station 4520. Such procedures andfunctionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certainembodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signalingfacilitating host computer 4510's measurements of throughput,propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may beimplemented in that software 4511 and 4531 causes messages to betransmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTTconnection 4550 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

FIG. 14 illustrates methods implemented in a communication systemincluding a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13 . Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 14will be included in this section. In step 4610, the host computerprovides user data. In substep 4611 (which may be optional) of step4610, the host computer provides the user data by executing a hostapplication. In step 4620, the host computer initiates a transmissioncarrying the user data to the UE. In step 4630 (which may be optional),the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried inthe transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance withthe teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.In step 4640 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a clientapplication associated with the host application executed by the hostcomputer.

FIG. 15 illustrates methods implemented in a communication systemincluding a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13 . Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 15will be included in this section. In step 4710 of the method, the hostcomputer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the hostcomputer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step4720, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user datato the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordancewith the teachings of the embodiments described throughout thisdisclosure. In step 4730 (which may be optional), the UE receives theuser data carried in the transmission.

FIG. 16 illustrates methods implemented in a communication systemincluding a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13 . Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 16will be included in this section. In step 4810 (which may be optional),the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionallyor alternatively, in step 4820, the UE provides user data. In substep4821 (which may be optional) of step 4820, the UE provides the user databy executing a client application. In substep 4811 (which may beoptional) of step 4810, the UE executes a client application whichprovides the user data in reaction to the received input data providedby the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed clientapplication may further consider user input received from the user.Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided,the UE initiates, in substep 4830 (which may be optional), transmissionof the user data to the host computer. In step 4840 of the method, thehost computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates methods implemented in a communication systemincluding a host computer, a base station and a user equipment inaccordance with some embodiments

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13 . Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 17will be included in this section. In step 4910 (which may be optional),in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. Instep 4920 (which may be optional), the base station initiatestransmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step4930 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user datacarried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefitsdisclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional unitsor modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatusmay comprise a number of these functional units. These functional unitsmay be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one ormore microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digitalhardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs),special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitrymay be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which mayinclude one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM),random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, opticalstorage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes programinstructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or datacommunications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one ormore of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, theprocessing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unitto perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics,electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, forexample, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules,processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices,computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks,procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and soon, as such as those that are described herein.

Further definitions and embodiments are discussed below.

In the above-description of various embodiments of present inventiveconcepts, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is forthe purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting of present inventive concepts. Unless otherwisedefined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) usedherein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art to which present inventive concepts belong. It will befurther understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of this specification andthe relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overlyformal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

When an element is referred to as being “connected”, “coupled”,“responsive”, or variants thereof to another element, it can be directlyconnected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or interveningelements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to asbeing “directly connected”, “directly coupled”, “directly responsive”,or variants thereof to another element, there are no interveningelements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.Furthermore, “coupled”, “connected”, “responsive”, or variants thereofas used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described indetail for brevity and/or clarity. The term “and/or” (abbreviated “/”)includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associatedlisted items.

It will be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc.may be used herein to describe various elements/operations, theseelements/operations should not be limited by these terms. These termsare only used to distinguish one element/operation from anotherelement/operation. Thus a first element/operation in some embodimentscould be termed a second element/operation in other embodiments withoutdeparting from the teachings of present inventive concepts. The samereference numerals or the same reference designators denote the same orsimilar elements throughout the specification.

As used herein, the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “comprises”,“include”, “including”, “includes”, “have”, “has”, “having”, or variantsthereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features,integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not precludethe presence or addition of one or more other features, integers,elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore,as used herein, the common abbreviation “e.g.”, which derives from theLatin phrase “exempli gratia,” may be used to introduce or specify ageneral example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is notintended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation “i.e.”,which derives from the Latin phrase “id est,” may be used to specify aparticular item from a more general recitation.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to blockdiagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of computer-implemented methods,apparatus (systems and/or devices) and/or computer program products. Itis understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/orflowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer programinstructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit ofa general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit,and/or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine,such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of thecomputer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, transformand control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and otherhardware components within such circuitry to implement thefunctions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block orblocks, and thereby create means (functionality) and/or structure forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/orflowchart block(s).

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a tangiblecomputer-readable medium that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/orflowchart block or blocks. Accordingly, embodiments of present inventiveconcepts may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processorsuch as a digital signal processor, which may collectively be referredto as “circuitry,” “a module” or variants thereof.

It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, thefunctions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted inthe flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowchartsand/or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and/or thefunctionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or blockdiagrams may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks maybe added/inserted between the blocks that are illustrated, and/orblocks/operations may be omitted without departing from the scope ofinventive concepts. Moreover, although some of the diagrams includearrows on communication paths to show a primary direction ofcommunication, it is to be understood that communication may occur inthe opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments withoutsubstantially departing from the principles of the present inventiveconcepts. All such variations and modifications are intended to beincluded herein within the scope of present inventive concepts.Accordingly, the above disclosed subject matter is to be consideredillustrative, and not restrictive, and the examples of embodiments areintended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and otherembodiments, which fall within the spirit and scope of present inventiveconcepts. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope ofpresent inventive concepts are to be determined by the broadestpermissible interpretation of the present disclosure including theexamples of embodiments and their equivalents, and shall not berestricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.

1. A method performed by a service communication proxy, SCP, the methodcomprising: determining whether or not there is a mismatch between afirst list of Network Function, NF, service producers in anauthorization token and a second list of NF service producers in adiscovery response; and responsive to determining that there is amismatch between the first list of NF service producers and the secondlist of NF service producers, transmitting a service response errormessage to an NF consumer device that transmitted the authorizationtoken, the service response error message indicating a mismatch betweenthe authorization token and the discovery response.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein determining whether or not there is a mismatch betweenthe first list of NF service producers and the second list of NF serviceproducers comprises: determining whether or not at least one NF producerlisted in the first list of NF service producers is listed in the secondlist of NF service producers; and responsive to determining that thereis not at least one NF producer listed in the first list of NF serviceproducers and in the second list of NF service producers, determiningthat there is a mismatch between the first list of NF service producersand the second list of NF service producers.
 3. The method of claim 2,further comprising: responsive to determining that there is at least oneNF service producer listed in the first list of NF service producers andlisted in the second list of NF service producers, determining thatthere is not a mismatch between the authorization token and thediscovery response.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein determiningwhether or not there is a mismatch between the first list of NF serviceproducers and the second list of NF service producers comprises:determining whether or not the first list of NF service producers isidentical to the second list of NF service producers; responsive todetermining that the first list of NF service producers is identical tothe second list of NF service producers, determining that there is not amismatch between the first list of NF service producers and the secondlist of NF service producers; and responsive to determining that thefirst list of NF service producers is not identical to the second listof NF service producers, determining that there is a mismatch betweenthe first list of NF service producers and the second list of NF serviceproducers.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether or notthere is a mismatch between the first list of NF service producers andthe second list of NF service producers comprises: determining whetheror not there is a partial match of at least one NF service producerlisted in the first list of NF service producers and at least one NFproducer listed in the second list of NF service producers; andresponsive to determining that there is a partial match, determiningthat there is a mismatch between the first list of NF service producersand the second list of NF service producers, wherein the serviceresponse error message transmitted to the NF consumer device indicatesthere is a partial match, the service response error message includinginformation about the partial match.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereindetermining whether or not there is a partial match comprisesdetermining whether or not there is at least one common NF serviceproducer in the first list of NF service producers and the second listof NF service producers.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:receiving a service request from the NF consumer device, the servicerequest comprising the authorization token.
 8. The method of claim 7,further comprising: transmitting a discovery request to a NF repositoryfunction; and receiving the discovery response from the NF repositoryfunction. 9-10. (canceled)
 11. A computer program product comprising anon-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed byprocessing circuitry of a service communication proxy, SCP, wherebyexecution of the program code causes the SCP to perform operationscomprising: determining whether or not there is a mismatch between afirst list of Network Function, NF, service producers in anauthorization token and a second list of NF service producers in adiscovery response; and responsive to determining that there is amismatch between the first list of NF service producers and the secondlist of NF service producers, transmitting a service response errormessage to an NF consumer device that transmitted the authorizationtoken, the service response error message indicating a mismatch betweenthe authorization token and the discovery response.
 12. (canceled) 13.(canceled)
 14. A service communication proxy, SCP, comprising:processing circuitry; and memory coupled with the processing circuitry,wherein the memory includes instructions that when executed by theprocessing circuitry causes the SCP to perform operations comprising:determining whether or not there is a mismatch between a first list ofNetwork Function, NF, service producers in an authorization token and asecond list of NF service producers in a discovery response; andresponsive to determining that there is a mismatch between the firstlist of NF service producers and the second list of NF serviceproducers, transmitting a service response error message to an NFconsumer device that transmitted the authorization token, the serviceresponse error message indicating a mismatch between the authorizationtoken and the discovery response.
 15. The SCP of claim 14 wherein theSCP, in determining whether or not there is a mismatch between the firstlist of NF service producers and the second list of NF service producersis adapted to perform operations comprising: determining whether or notat least one NF producer listed in the first list of NF serviceproducers is listed in the second list of NF service producers; andresponsive to determining that there is not at least one NF producerlisted in the first list of NF service producers and in the second listof NF service producers, determining that the first list of NF serviceproducers is not identical to the second list of NF service producers.16. The SCP of claim 15, wherein the memory includes furtherinstructions that when executed by the processing circuitry causes theSCP to perform further operations comprising: responsive to determiningthat there is at least one NF service producer listed in the first listof NF service producers and listed in the second list of NF serviceproducers, determining that there is not a mismatch between theauthorization token and the discovery response.
 17. The SCP of claim 14,wherein in determining whether or not there is a mismatch between thefirst list of NF service producers and the second list of NF serviceproducers, the memory includes further instructions that when executedby the processing circuitry causes the SCP is adapted to performoperations comprising: determining whether or not the first list of NFservice producers is identical to the second list of NF serviceproducers; responsive to determining that the first list of NF serviceproducers is identical to the second list of NF service producers,determining that there is not a mismatch between the first list of NFservice producers and the second list of NF service producers; andresponsive to determining that the first list of NF service producers isnot identical to the second list of NF service producers, determiningthat there is a mismatch between the first list of NF service producersand the second list of NF service producers.
 18. The SCP of claim 14,wherein in determining whether or not there is a mismatch between thefirst list of NF service producers and the second list of NF serviceproducers, the memory includes further instructions that when executedby the processing circuitry causes the SCP perform operationscomprising: determining whether or not there is a partial match of atleast one NF service producer listed in the first list of NF serviceproducers and at least one NF producer listed in the second list of NFservice producers; and responsive to determining that there is a partialmatch, determining that there is a mismatch between the first list of NFservice producers and the second list of NF service producers, whereinthe service response error message transmitted to the NF consumer deviceindicates there is a partial match, the service response error messageincluding information about the partial match.
 19. The SCP of claim 18,wherein in determining whether or not there is a partial match, thememory includes further instructions that when executed by theprocessing circuitry causes the SCP perform operations comprisingdetermining whether or not there is at least one common NF serviceproducer in the first list of NF service producers and the second listof NF service producers.
 20. The SCP of claim 14, wherein the memoryincludes further instructions that when executed by the processingcircuitry causes the SCP to perform operations comprising: receiving aservice request from the NF consumer device, the service requestcomprising the authorization token.
 21. The SCP of claim 14, wherein thememory includes further instructions that when executed by theprocessing circuitry causes the SCP to perform operations comprising:transmitting a discovery request to a NF repository function; andreceiving the discovery response from the NF repository function.